Periodic Reporting for period 2 - COOLTORISE (Raising summer energy poverty awareness to reduce cooling needs)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-03-01 do 2024-08-31
The last few summers have broken temperature records, and forecasts indicate that this trend will continue. European statistics show that up to 19% of households reported not being comfortably cool in summer (Eurostat, 2012 - this question was asked only that year). It is increasingly urgent to address the population's adaptation to heat and cooling needs, and overheating risks must be incorporated into the energy poverty equation.
Not all households have an air conditioning system, and it is known that energy-poor households make restrictive use of heating and cooling, as they cannot afford associated energy bills. In this context, COOLTORISE has worked to raise awareness of summer energy poverty and has implemented actions to mitigate it, with a double benefit for households: firstly, by increasing their thermal comfort through passive strategies, helping them to avoid exposure to extreme summer temperatures, minimising their energy consumption; and secondly, by avoiding the installation of air conditioning, which increases urban temperatures and worsens global warming.
The main achievements of the project include:
● Highlighting the need to address energy poverty not only in winter but also in summer, making great advances to put the summer energy poverty in the European agenda. The project has set the common framework of energy poverty among Southern European Countries, identifying existing regulations, definitions and methodologies. The project has generated new knowledge on summer energy poverty, particularly in relation to its complex nature, involving variables related to the built environment, the surrounding infrastructure, and the behavioral patterns of the population. It has highlighted the urban dimension as a key feature to reducing summer energy poverty. It has been highlighted that reducing urban heat might have a positive impact on indoor thermal conditions. And, given the relevance of usage patterns, the work done through participatory assessments should be integrated into urban analyses for adaptation to overheating.
● The project has defined a wide set of solutions to tackle summer energy poverty: optimal housing using patterns in the hot season, key strategies to optimize energy bills and access to social tariffs, and installation of low-cost solutions to reduce indoor overheating and increase thermal comfort. In addition, innovative and challenging outdoor interventions to mitigate the urban heat island and cool down the surrounding urban areas were carried out as well. With these activities, the project has worked on recovering the value of the traditional culture of heat.
● The project has trained 381 people to become Summer Energy Poverty Agents, which worked with energy-poor households and helped them improve their living conditions. Among these agents, 65% are professionals who have improved their skills and acquired new knowledge to put into practice in their continuous professional life.
● A total of 8,361 people has engaged with COOLTORISE and have benefited from it, alleviating their vulnerability towards summer energy poverty conditions.
● Women’s empowerment has been addressed in the project to revert the feminization of energy poverty. Activities carried out have facilitated women’s participation, having a representation of 65% of the total engaged people.
Not all households have an air conditioning system, and it is known that energy-poor households make restrictive use of heating and cooling, as they cannot afford associated energy bills. In this context, COOLTORISE has worked to raise awareness of summer energy poverty and has implemented actions to mitigate it, with a double benefit for households: firstly, by increasing their thermal comfort through passive strategies, helping them to avoid exposure to extreme summer temperatures, minimising their energy consumption; and secondly, by avoiding the installation of air conditioning, which increases urban temperatures and worsens global warming.
The main achievements of the project include:
● Highlighting the need to address energy poverty not only in winter but also in summer, making great advances to put the summer energy poverty in the European agenda. The project has set the common framework of energy poverty among Southern European Countries, identifying existing regulations, definitions and methodologies. The project has generated new knowledge on summer energy poverty, particularly in relation to its complex nature, involving variables related to the built environment, the surrounding infrastructure, and the behavioral patterns of the population. It has highlighted the urban dimension as a key feature to reducing summer energy poverty. It has been highlighted that reducing urban heat might have a positive impact on indoor thermal conditions. And, given the relevance of usage patterns, the work done through participatory assessments should be integrated into urban analyses for adaptation to overheating.
● The project has defined a wide set of solutions to tackle summer energy poverty: optimal housing using patterns in the hot season, key strategies to optimize energy bills and access to social tariffs, and installation of low-cost solutions to reduce indoor overheating and increase thermal comfort. In addition, innovative and challenging outdoor interventions to mitigate the urban heat island and cool down the surrounding urban areas were carried out as well. With these activities, the project has worked on recovering the value of the traditional culture of heat.
● The project has trained 381 people to become Summer Energy Poverty Agents, which worked with energy-poor households and helped them improve their living conditions. Among these agents, 65% are professionals who have improved their skills and acquired new knowledge to put into practice in their continuous professional life.
● A total of 8,361 people has engaged with COOLTORISE and have benefited from it, alleviating their vulnerability towards summer energy poverty conditions.
● Women’s empowerment has been addressed in the project to revert the feminization of energy poverty. Activities carried out have facilitated women’s participation, having a representation of 65% of the total engaged people.
During the three years of the project, a total of 8,361 people have benefited from COOLTORISE activities, more than 318 CoolKits were distributed and 20 outdoor interventions were carried out to provide heat relief.
Almost 80% of the participants say they have learned about alternatives to cope with summer heat and avoid installing air conditioners. Among the participants, 78% reported to have improved their thermal comfort conditions and about 66% declared feeling capable of affording their energy consumption while using the low/no-budget solutions provided by COOLTORISE.
A total saving of 1.03 GWh was estimated for average households based on the 6% reduction obtained in energy bills, with a consequent reduction in emissions of 620.1 tCO2eq. However, families participating in the project present energy consumptions of half the average household energy consumption, which, along with the differences in occupancy patterns during the summers, makes the precise evaluation of energy savings through energy bills challenging. Nonetheless, COOLTORISE offers valuable lessons regarding the impact assessment on improving comfort conditions and households' adaptation to heat. In this sense, the positive self-reporting of households presents better insights on the effective evaluation of summer energy poverty conditions, which highlights the need to incorporate qualitative evaluation methods.
The project has trained 381 Summer Energy Poverty Agents (205 of them were professionals) increasing their skills to work on the adaptation of the most vulnerable towards summer energy poverty. Beyond these specific numbers, COOLTORISE has reached more than 25,528 stakeholders throughout the thematic events and presentation of the project.
Almost 80% of the participants say they have learned about alternatives to cope with summer heat and avoid installing air conditioners. Among the participants, 78% reported to have improved their thermal comfort conditions and about 66% declared feeling capable of affording their energy consumption while using the low/no-budget solutions provided by COOLTORISE.
A total saving of 1.03 GWh was estimated for average households based on the 6% reduction obtained in energy bills, with a consequent reduction in emissions of 620.1 tCO2eq. However, families participating in the project present energy consumptions of half the average household energy consumption, which, along with the differences in occupancy patterns during the summers, makes the precise evaluation of energy savings through energy bills challenging. Nonetheless, COOLTORISE offers valuable lessons regarding the impact assessment on improving comfort conditions and households' adaptation to heat. In this sense, the positive self-reporting of households presents better insights on the effective evaluation of summer energy poverty conditions, which highlights the need to incorporate qualitative evaluation methods.
The project has trained 381 Summer Energy Poverty Agents (205 of them were professionals) increasing their skills to work on the adaptation of the most vulnerable towards summer energy poverty. Beyond these specific numbers, COOLTORISE has reached more than 25,528 stakeholders throughout the thematic events and presentation of the project.
In terms of the achieved impacts, COOLTORISE addressed summer energy poverty from a three-fold perspective: increasing energy literacy among vulnerable population and stakeholders, improving dwellings' indoor comfort, and reducing households' energy consumption and associated GHG emissions. These three perspectives have been implemented through a dissemination strategy, which has contributed to raise awareness among pothe pulation and also has encouraged the continuity of activities that will increase impacts beyond the project.
The project has engaged 8,361 vulnerable citizens during its completion. The activities developed during the project have demonstrated improving households' thermal comfort and reducing their exposure to extreme summer temperatures. Vulnerable households have learnt and enhanced their own knowledge on how to cope with heat, sharing experiences with other households and recovering the traditional heat culture. In addition, many participant households have expressed they will not install air conditioning systems in the coming years, avoiding future energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
The project has worked on building capacity with emphasis on professionals. A total of 381 people increased their knowledge on summer energy poverty, climate change adaptation to heat, energy markets and billing, and work with vulnerable population.
Finally, through events and dissemination actions, COOLTORISE has managed to reach more than 1 million people.
Along with this direct impact on vulnerable households and key stakeholders, COOLTORISE has had a high degree of dissemination among citizens and helped raise awareness among the general population and policy makers. This contributes to general adaptation to rising temperatures, which is crucial given the current increase in temperatures and foreseen scarcity of resources and energy.
COOLTORISE has also contributed to policy and best practice development on summer energy poverty through the publication of scientific papers, public statements, and the involvement of policymakers and decision-makers. The project has raised awareness among Member States regarding the need for adaptation of the most vulnerable to leave no one behind in the adaptation to climate change
The project has engaged 8,361 vulnerable citizens during its completion. The activities developed during the project have demonstrated improving households' thermal comfort and reducing their exposure to extreme summer temperatures. Vulnerable households have learnt and enhanced their own knowledge on how to cope with heat, sharing experiences with other households and recovering the traditional heat culture. In addition, many participant households have expressed they will not install air conditioning systems in the coming years, avoiding future energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
The project has worked on building capacity with emphasis on professionals. A total of 381 people increased their knowledge on summer energy poverty, climate change adaptation to heat, energy markets and billing, and work with vulnerable population.
Finally, through events and dissemination actions, COOLTORISE has managed to reach more than 1 million people.
Along with this direct impact on vulnerable households and key stakeholders, COOLTORISE has had a high degree of dissemination among citizens and helped raise awareness among the general population and policy makers. This contributes to general adaptation to rising temperatures, which is crucial given the current increase in temperatures and foreseen scarcity of resources and energy.
COOLTORISE has also contributed to policy and best practice development on summer energy poverty through the publication of scientific papers, public statements, and the involvement of policymakers and decision-makers. The project has raised awareness among Member States regarding the need for adaptation of the most vulnerable to leave no one behind in the adaptation to climate change